This application is a response to research objective 20) Racial/Ethnic Differences and Health Disparities. Osteoarthritis (OA), a common chronic condition, is associated with pain, functional impairment, and poor well-being for women. OA is associated with significant economic costs to society. Little is known about coping with OA in African Americans or persons with low socioeconomic status (SES), groups that tend to be over-affected but understudied. Most research on coping with arthritis is comprised of White, middle to upper class samples and may not apply to all groups. It is important to document the extent to which African Americans perceive OA as stressful, use similar strategies, and have similar physical and psychological well-being compared to their White counterparts. The purpose of this proposal is to examine coping with OA and well-being in middle-aged and older African American and White women of varying SES. The main goal is to examine similarities and differences in stress-appraisal, coping, and well-being as function of age, race, and SES. The two specific aims for this proposal are: 1) to document patterns of illness, stress, coping, and well-being among African American and White women, and 2) to examine the effects of coping on well-being based on age, race, and socioeconomic status. Participants will include equal numbers of African American and White older and middle aged women (N=200). Analyses will document basic patterns of stress, health, and coping as a function of age, race, and SES. Additional analyses will examine whether these critical variables interact to predict use of coping strategies, and whether these variables interact with coping to predict well-being. Identifying effective coping strategies for particular groups informs the design of interventions and potentially eases the burden of OA on individuals and society. This study is an important first step in the documentation of stress and coping by age, race, SES, and the role of additional critical factors such as gender and illness type. Results based on the model proposed and examined in this pilot study will be used to design a larger study which ideally will include both men and persons with rheumatoid arthritis in a multi-region study.